Dolomites

It's official: the Dolomite mountains in northeastern Italy make up one of the most beautiful landscapes in the world, and in 2009, UNESCO added them to the list of Natural World Heritage sites. At 200 million years old, these craggy, colorful, ...

What a beautiful region. I had never been in this area. We drank lovely fresh water from the mountain fountains and got to see the first snowfall of the season. The site of the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina was really cool. It was a nice day trip during our stay in Venice. Highly recommend!

I would highly recommend this trip! We had quite a bit of snow, so we couldn't get clear views of the Dolomites, but it was a still a wonderful trip. Our guide was great and the towns were beautiful and easy to explore, too.

AN ABSOLUTE MUST and money well-spent! If you are in Venice, take a day off and go around Dolomites. I went there mid-November which is a time when most places close up shop. But, even in the off-season, Dolomites were just as beautiful as I expected them to be. Luckily we had good weather, it had snowed a few days before we went there so it was very pretty with snow-capped mountains as the backdrop for the lush green fields. Our guide JUSTIN was absolutely amazing! He drove us to the perfect spots to admire the natural beauty and capture them on the camera. He took us to this wonderful place for lunch made sure it was open for us as it was off-season and had excellent suggestions for what to eat and drink. The meal I had there was probably the most authentic and delicious Italian meal of my whole trip. He showed us the mesmerizing glacial lakes and took us on a small stroll in the snowy mountains along with some snowball fights :D I was on a solo-trip in Italy so this small getaway provided a very warm feeling of going around with friends. Thank you everyone who was on the trip with me and especially JUSTIN for making it one of the most memorable days in my Euro-trip!

It was an excellent tour. Fortunately we had good weather and we could see the mountains for the most part. The tour guide was very informative. I would recommend the tour but try to book during times where you'll have the best chance of getting clear weather as you don't want to be spending a few hours on the van just so that you see the mountains hidden by clouds or fog.

Pretty scenery...postcards don't do it justice. An interesting tour to take from Venice to get out into the countryside. With snow on the mountains and the lakes starting to freeze over, it is very different to Australia!

The scenery of Dolomite Mountains is breathtaking. But without Justin, our tour guide, we would not enjoy the trip as such. Justin is well experience and thoughtful. Since he noticed that all of us love photography, he arrange flexible schedules so that we could spend more time to take our shots. The car that took us around was good, comfortable and driven safely. We had very good times at the Dolomites Mountains. I will recommend this tour to my friends.

Me and my wife took this tour and had a great experience. Our guide was very knowlegeable and one of our favorite parts was being able to learn and ask questions about the Italian culture. The tour was well organized with some time to go out on your own and had some incredible views. We enjoyed this experience.

Those are the best moment that we have in our last journeys to Rome. We had a chance to visit Dolomite Mountains in a Day Trip from Venice. I can even dared to close my eyes along the way although i felt so tired and sleepy because i don't want to lose something of those beauties. Carlo....our oneman show driver and tour guide is a very generous people who offered some other great points of view that are not in our itinerary. We really feel so special to meet him and to be the member of his tour......he always very helpful to take a picture of us and answered our questions in details about Dolomite and surroundings. Thanks again Carlo.....i hope to see you again in our next journey to Italy.

We are so happy we incorporated this tour into our trip. What a great trip! Phil was excellent. We never felt rushed and saw some amazing sights and villages. It was nice experiencing it with a small group. There were only 8 of us. The van was very comfortable. It was easy meeting up, thanks to People Movers. And Phil was kind enough to drop us off right near our hotel. If you have the desire to see the Dolomites and get away from the hustle and bustle of city life for awhile, I would highly recommend this trip.

Excellent trip in good weather! Your local guide Michael was experienced and he showed us all the picturesque spots. We had a small group of 8 - 2 pairs of couples from U.S.A. including us and 2 other pairs from Australia and we had good companies. Lunch at Lake Misurina at Pizzeria was good - great food at good prices. This was our 1st time to book with Viator for an escorted tour. Will do another trip again next year for our vacation in Spain. Thanks.

The Dolemite Mountains small group tour was our last tour on a 15 day vacation.There were 6 of us women traveling together and all agreed that this was the highlight of our trip. Marco Zanato from Venice Travels was a excellent guide very knowledgeable, friendly and quite accommodating. Highly recommend the tour and Marco.

This was a great experience. This day trip made us want to visit Austria and the other Alpine countries. Great tour guide, not rushed along and the stop for our meal was spectacular. Highly recommend this trip!

Justin was a fabulous tour guide!! The weather was snowy and cloudy but, he made sure to stop wherever he saw a photo opportunity for us and we were able to get some great shots! He was a lot of fun and a very willing photographer. The tour itself was fantastic allowing us the chance to see some beautiful scenery, explore small towns, and eat an authentic meal overlooking a pristine lake. I would definitely recommend this tour to anyone in the area.

This is a great day tour out of Venice for those who enjoy spectacular mountain scenery. We had a group of six and had fun getting acquainted and seeing the sights and sharing a meal. Our guide was knowledgable and made the day comfortable and safe.

This tour was our favorite parts of our trip to Italy! Justin was an amazing guide with a lot of knowledge about the Dolomites and surrounding towns, as well as an excellent photographer!! This is the best opportunity to get a look into a side of Italy that is completely off the beaten path and much different than the rest of the country. The towns are quiet and quaint, and the mountains are unbelievable in person - we brought a portable charger to make sure there was enough battery for our camera. I hope to make it back during ski season now that I am so in love with the area! Thanks again Justin!!

Despite the rain the entire day, we really enjoyed this tour. There were several stops along the way with some free time to enjoy and take photos. We were very close to the Austrian border, wow! We saw where the 1956 winter Olympics were held in Cortina. Very beautiful area, if the weather was better we would have rated this tour a 5. There were 8 in our group, we drove in a Mercedes minivan. Our driver Filippe was very good and gave us lots of information the only thing we didn't like was how fast he was driving along the highway in the rain 90miles/hour or 145km/hour. There are a lot of winding turns as you go up and down the mountains, may cause nausea for some people. We really recommend this day trip from Venice if you enjoy mountain scenery.

A MUST DO TOUR! Our guide, Marco, was exactly where our papers told us he would be at the Tronchetto Water Bus stop. Our vehicle was a nine seat eight passengers plus the driver luxury van/coach.

HEADS UP: We were a group of four couples and due to the layout of the seats in the van rear three seat bench, then 2 rows of two seats each, then individual bucket seats for the driver and one passenger, only three of the four couples could sit together. The fourth couple had to divide with one sitting in the rear three seat bench and the other sitting shotgun up front with Marco. So, we all took turns rotating and taking our turn sitting up front and be separated from our husband/wife.. that way no one couple spent the entire day separated. It worked quite well and I actually enjoyed sitting up front as that seat gave me terrific views for photos out the windshield and Marco was a ham to chat with! One couple refused to take part in the seat rotation but as the day went on it became clear that they thought themselves in the privileged crowd and thus above the need to participate and separate like the rest of us. Oh well. The rest of us didn't let it ruin our trip. Sitting in the front seat also really helps if you get car/motion sick. There are some serious hairpin turns when climbing the mountain, so keep in mind that you should request the front seat for this stretch if you you tend to get car sick.

Marco whisked us away from the craziness of Venice and into the ruggedness of the Italian Alps for the day. The drive was fantastic! Even on the boring highway portion of the drive, Marco was filling the time with antics and commentary. About 45min after departing Venice, we stopped at a roadside truck stop for a bathroom break and refreshments. There was a big map of the Dolomite area there so he gave us a visual overview of where our drive would take us.

We made a couple more stops for pictures, one was by a dam that gave beautiful views of the Dolomites and Marco had us zoom in on our cameras so we could see the chateau at the top that was our ultimate, and highest, destination. Marco was a fabulous photographer! He would take time to take pictures for each couple, taking several shots and moving around for different angles. I was impressed with what he caught on my camera.

After the hair pin turns segment of the drive, we reached the chateau. It had snowed the day before so there was a lovely bright glistening sheen on every surface making the experience even more magical. After about 20min at the top, we drove back down repeating the hair pin turns and stopped for lunch in what had to be the most gorgeous place I have ever been. The little restaurant we ate at was positioned on the edge of a lake and we were literally surrounded by the Dolomites. I took several pictures here that will soon be enlarged, framed and hung on my walls.

After lunch, we continued our drive and had a few more stops for pictures. First was a bridge where Marco let us all out on one end and we walked the length of the bridge to take in the views and met him and the van on the other end. Gorgeous views and got some more wonderful pictures. The next picture stop was for views of a valley bordered on both sides by the Dolomites. Again, fantastic pictures were taken. Our next stop was in the village of Cortina dAmpezzo where we were given about 30min to wander and explore. And for our final stop, we got to see the site of the 1956 Winter Olympics and the original wooden ski jump and spectator stands that are still standing, despite decades of obvious neglect.

Then it was a straight drive back to Venice. Most of us grabbed a nap as we had been on the go all day and had gotten up around 6am. Marco returned us to the Tronchetto Water Bus stop around 6pm where we returned to the city by our own means. Since my husband and I were staying in the San Marco district, we wanted to walk back and explore the other sections of the city. We asked Marco how we could do this as we had taken the water bus that morning and he was quick to offer to drive us over a bridge and let us out near another bridge. He told us where to go and it worked flawlessly. We were able to follow his directions and walk back to our hotel in about the same time the water bus would have taken to get us to the San Marco bus stop.

All in all, this tour was fantastic! Marco made it even better by being very cordial and accommodating to the entire group. Offering to take pictures of us and knowing the perfect places to stop for pictures. The day could not have been any more perfect. Even the weather played nice and allowed us one of the best and most memorable experiences of our Italian vacation. We recommend this tour with much enthusiasm!